


Out of this World and Into My Head

by Citadel_Monitor



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alpha John Watson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Astronaut John Watson, Frottage, M/M, Omega Sherlock Holmes, chemist/ consulting detective sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25463266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citadel_Monitor/pseuds/Citadel_Monitor
Summary: I recently read an article that states that space apparently smells like rum, raspberry, seared meat, and gun powder.So you know that had to become a fic...Sherlock used to smell like a raspberry and rum and people said he was intoxicating.John used to smell like danger and comfort like a Sunday roast with scent of gunpowder in the air.An accident cause them both to loose their scent but a chance meeting brings it back in full force.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	Out of this World and Into My Head

**Author's Note:**

> This was relentless plot bunny, I wrote this all at 3 am... my sense of time is a bit fucked so sometimes I forget what tense to put a word in.

Sherlock never wanted to be an omega, he never wanted to belong to someone so completely and he would pity anyone who had the misfortune to be destined for him. It used to bother him a lot more in his youth to the point that he was in a constant tug of war with either destroying himself or lashing out at everyone. People used to find his scent of raspberry and rum to be rather intoxicating, but after an incident where he OD’d and found himself in the hospital; people stopped commenting on it; he smelled claimed but not bonded. He eventually found his way in the world, because of the shift in how people treated him after his scent stopped being so overwhelming. Careerwise he worked as a chemist developing new scent markers and blockers. His work on scents and bonds made him a lot of connections in the NSY, so they did humor him on his detective work as well. It was a life worth living; sometimes it bothered him because he didn’t know what caused the scent shift. Sometimes he worried about an Alpha he couldn’t even remember, coming back to finish the claim, but it hasn’t happened yet. He does faintly remember the alpha smelling a little bit dangerous, gunpowder, and a little bit comforting, like a seared steak or a holiday roast. Yet he wasn’t willing to give up the freedom he had; but at the same time he was grateful because if it wasn’t for his dull smell he would’ve never gotten the chances he got. 

Some may think him lonely, but the work kept him busy, he could never be lonely if he was busy right. Unfortunately, no amount of busy could stop a heat, which was a problem in on its own and the loss of control made him so angry, but it was something he could manage for the most part but in recent months it has been worse. It worried him, he saw the studies on claimed but not bonded omegas and alphas. The heats and ruts would fade away to almost nothing when they were apart but as they were become closer in proximity the heats and ruts would become more intense. So the return of his ruts scared him. 

He was busily comparing scent markers in a lab when his colleague Mike Stanford was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. “I knew you’d be here.” He stopped and smelled the air, “were you drinking during lunch? I smell mojitos and maybe some raspberries. 

Sherlock panicked, “I don’t know Mike, maybe it is one of the samples?” He panicked because if he was being able to put off a scent that meant that the alpha was close. He took a deep breath and turned back to his work opening a large number of various scents in hopes of hiding his under it all. He suddenly found a break in the case he was working on. “Mike can I borrow your phone? no signal on mine.” 

“What’s wrong with the landline?” Replied a fairly exasperated Mike.

“I prefer text,” said Sherlock, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly raise up he could smell it that scent of gunpowder and seared meat. 

A short man with a cane appeared from behind Mike, “here use mine.” He handed his cellphone to Sherlock their fingers accidentally grazing, they both sucked in a deep breath.

Sherlock was comforted by the equally panicked look on the alpha in front of him, “oh um… thank you.”

“This is an old friend of mine, John Watson, he…” Mike shared before being cut off.

“I play the violin when I’m thinking, and sometimes I don’t talk for days on end - would that bother you? Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other,” said Sherlock before he could really think it through why was he inviting this alpha, the one who had a claim on him, to live with him. At this moment he was really hating his biology. But Sherlock already felt some level of comfort with the man. 

“Excuse me but what?” Said an astonished John, looking at a smug Mike. 

“Afghanistan or Iraq?” Asked Sherlock standing up making himself as tall as possible almost as if trying to establish a certain level of dominance. “And no Mike didn’t contact me, he showed up with an old friend after I lamented to him this morning about the difficulties of finding a flat mate. So Afghanistan or Iraq?

“Sorry but how did you know?” Asked John. “Did Mike already tell y…”

“No, but between your hair being a slightly grown out buzz cut, the tan line at your wrist proving you were in the sun but not on vacation. Your face and leg tell me plenty about your military history and that slight twitch in your hand tells me, army doctor, am I correct?” Sherlock kicked himself mentally why he was looking for John's approval. 

“Astonishing,” said John, he looked at Sherlock with great fondness.

“Oh… that’s new, that’s not what people usually say,” replied Sherlock, preening at the praise.

“What do they usually say?” Asked John with a small lopsided smile. He knew deep down he was going to be fairly obsessed with this brilliant man. He wanted to know so much more about him. He recognized the smell and felt a twinge of sadness. He took the choice of finding a mate from Sherlock, but it just happened. And he couldn’t bring himself to feel too bad because he knew what freedoms the incident brought him. He figured that Sherlock had the same benefit since the usual omega of his age would be in the house raising children not working at the lab. He took a deep breath enjoying Sherlock’s scent, he longed to press his face right against the source of the scent but he stopped himself. He knew better than that, so he restrained himself.

“Piss off,” laughed Sherlock who delighted at John's laughter. He found the laughter and easy praise to be a joy. But he stopped himself, a man like John probably would want a whole ass litter of kiddos just like every other military alpha he met. He shouldn’t try to invest too much of himself in John no matter how tempting he smelled.

“I guess you are going to want to see the flat,” said Sherlock, he was shocked at just how quick his transport was moving beyond him. And it had the audacity to use his mouth before he could filter himself.

John smiled, “yeah that would be great, where is it?” He scowled at the smug looking smile Mike was sporting as he witnessed this exchange. 

Mike could definitely smell both John and Sherlock and he was getting a kick out of seeing a flustered, blushing Sherlock. 

“221B Baker Street,” said Sherlock with a smile. “Together I am sure we can get rent covered.” He closed all the samples in front of him and gently placed them on a shelf in the sample storage. He nodded in the direction of the door and he smirked as John followed him.

They rode together in the cab John was amused because he could smell it, that lovely mingle of rum, raspberry, seared meat, and gunpowder. He missed it ever so dearly but he could never go back. He was utterly impressed with the location, and the landlady, Mrs. Hudson, was absolutely lovely but she eyed John with a huge amount of suspicion. He could tell by the motherly pheromones she put out around Sherlock. She was definitely suspicious of the scents in the flat. 

A silver haired man burst in to the apartment.

John instantly stood up as if to protect Sherlock. John knew deep down that Sherlock deserved to have a choice in mate, but John was afraid to let go, he was already hanging on such a thin thread to his will to live. 

“There has been another suicide but this one left a note!” Exclaimed the man. He turned to John and sniffed the air and turned to Sherlock still sniffing the air. He backed out the door, he wasn’t about to impede on Sherlock finally meeting the man who claimed him. “Actually you know what you’re busy, I’ll keep you up to date. Oh and I am Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade, Sherlock works with me at the Yard.” 

John turned to Sherlock, “You work with the Police? That’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant, you must be super talented. You have to be in order to work at the lab and now with the Yard! Wow… just wow.

Sherlock gave an awkward smile, he has never met anyone who so freely praised Sherlock. He felt some warm syrupy comfort and pride just melt down his spine. He almost couldn’t hate his transport for bringing this man into his life. But he found himself wondering about John what events lead to this claim, he knew that he wouldn’t let anyone that close to him even when he was high in his youth. It almost made him suspicious, did John force himself on Sherlock and he was just blocking out the memory. It sent a cold shiver down his spine at that thought. But he was sure he didn’t have all the info, he probably should gather more info before making a judgement. He shook off his train of thought when he saw Lestrade quickly make way for the stairs, he followed him.

Lestrade started to run down the stairs but Sherlock quickly caught up with him. “Sherlock, I’m going to be honest with you. The others are rather sore over your display at the press conference. I think you need an assistant, someone to be a buffer. Maybe the gentleman upstairs, I know you wouldn’t invite anyone into your life, who interrupts your thrill of the game. Ask him to come with you.”

Sherlock glares at Lestrade, “fine, I’ll go ask John.” He darted back up the stairs to find John awkwardly shifting in the velvety arm chair. “You are a Doctor, in fact an Army Doctor. You any good?” 

John stood up the tallest and steadiest he had since his return to London. “Yes, very good.”

“Seen a lot of injuries, then; violent deaths,” asked Sherlock.

John nodded, “Mmm, yes.”

Sherlock smiled, ”Bit of trouble too, I bet.“

John, softly replied with a slight touch of sadness, “Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime. Far too much.”

Sherlock took a breath and while he tried to sound cautious, he came off as excited.”Wanna see some more?”

“Oh God, yes,” replied John quickly standing up in a way where Sherlock felt a little bit of pride. When he first saw John, he was limping with a psychosomatic limp, but he seemed to be growing steadier the more time he spent with Sherlock. His inner omega was filled with joy over being able to bring that sense of steadiness to his Alpha. 

Sherlock and John have a whirlwind of a night, full of finding clues, chasing criminals, and much to Sherlock’s and John’s surprise an opportunity for John’s sharp shooting skills to make an impressive show. Sherlock felt an attachment growing, but he remained cautious; he also couldn’t believe that John was so quick to defend him from those who ridiculed himself John felt a great fondness for Sherlock and hoped that the feeling was returned. As they rode the taxi back to 221B they were starting to get truly overwhelmed by their scents mingling. John felt a great amusement of the smell because it reminded him of some of the greatest moments in his life. They stumbled out of the taxi after quickly paying the fare, the cabbie winked at them and wished them good luck, Sherlock scowled at the comment. As they entered the building they stood at the door of the stairs leading up to the flat. They are catching their breath. When suddenly Sherlock pinned John to the wall and started kissing him.

John leaned into the kiss and rather enjoyed this turn of events but he had to stop it, he had to tell Sherlock the truth. He gently pushed Sherlock away but held onto his hand, he sat on the bottom step. “I need to tell you something,” said John as he looked at the disappointment on Sherlock’s face, “this isn’t a rejection I just need to tell you the truth, please let me do that.” He gently rubbed small circles into the hand he was holding, he smiled as it stopped being a balled up fist and turned into a Sherlock clasping both his hands around John’s hand. 

“I used to be an EMT, I studied medicine, but they weren’t going to let me work at any hospital or clinic as an unbounded alpha. The only place that would take me was the Army. One night I passed by an alley and I saw a young man who was passed out with a needle in his arm. I was carrying Narcan, so I administered it, called an ambulance, and started administering CPR. I guess someone saw me and thought the worst, as I was about to deliver another round of mouth to mouth. And I got kicked in the back of the head and my mouth ended up in the wrong spot. It just happened, and I didn’t mean to. I accidentally put a claim on him. But I immediately went back to CPR and the person felt bad but thankfully he also knew CPR so we were able to keep the young man breathing long enough for the ambulance to take over. I tried to track down the young man to apologize and to provide consent for breaking the claim because it was an accident.”

Sherlock looked at John in amazement; it was a great relief to find out John didn’t force himself on him. It was just a simple mistake.

“But then the opportunities started being offered because I was now being seen as a claimed but eventually to be bonded alpha, and I knew it was selfish but I was too happy to even consider giving up those opportunities. I tried my best to find him, but nothing ever happened. I still finished out my promised time with the Army, but a once in a lifetime opportunity came to me. I was offered a chance to go to the International Space Station to be the medical provider for a few months. And I took it, it was brilliant, oh god it was absolutely beautiful up there. It had a bit of a specific scent up there no matter what. It was this interesting combo of raspberries, rum, seared steaks, and gunpowder. And I guess you figured out where I am going with this. I think you were that young man in the alley.”

Sherlock froze, his alpha, no the alpha, knew about his past as a drug addict, he no longer lived that life. But sometimes it would just appear and that hurt. He worried that John was going to leave him.

“Sherlock I can feel your distress, don’t worry. I still want you. For the first time in a long time I feel alive like truly alive. I have only known you a day, but I am sure you can deduce what I was preparing for when we first met in the lab,” John said rather sadly. 

Sherlock stared at John, yes he definitely saw that pain, and the intention to kill himself when they first met. Maybe that was why his transport was so insistent on keeping John close. He awkwardly laughed, “well I guess you already saved me twice, I hope you give me an opportunity to make it even.” 

John laughed and pulled Sherlock into his lap and started kissing him. He was amused at the fact that Sherlock seemed to lack the finesse in kissing that he had in every other movement in his life. “I take it this is new for you?”

“Actually… surprisingly yes, I usually can’t deal with other people touching me, so of course, I lack experience in kissing, I hope that isn’t a turn off.” Sherlock pressed another kiss against John’s lips. And he allowed John’s tongue to probe even deeper, eventually John rolled them over and they were rutting against each other. Only to feel some incredibly cold mist that quickly caused the scent in the air to temporarily neutralize but it was quickly coming back. They turned to see the source, it was Mrs. Hudson with a spray bottle. 

“Your rooms are literally up the stairs, go make out there like decent humans,” yelled Mrs. Hudson as she continued spritzing the air with the scent neutralizer. 

The two of them quickly ran up and tumbled into Sherlock’s bed to continue kissing and rutting against each other in a frenzied manner, they didn’t even bother taking off their clothes. Sherlock eventually tensed up and with a great moan came in his pants. John followed shortly, they found themselves spooning on the bed, not quite bothered with the idea of clean up. 

Sherlock sighed, “that was amazing.” He began to nuzzle John’s neck. 

John laughed because he was ticklish but he gently pulled Sherlock away. “You can only play in that area if you intend to bond with me. Do you want that?”

Sherlock stared at John, “I think I do, are you okay with that? But can we put off on having kids for a little while longer.” 

John chuckled, “okay next heat, we’ll complete the bond, love.”

“You love me?” Asked Sherlock feeling another rush of syrupy joy pounding through his veins. 

“Oh god yes, you make me feel alive again. I know it is rather fast to say but, I love you, I am absolutely over the moon for you,” replied John. “My accident with you let me live the life I wanted for many years, and even though I wasn’t able to find you. I grew to love you because the claim I accidentally bestowed on you, that you never broke allowed me to go to the stars.”

Sherlock smiled, “good, because I love the life I was able to live as well and since you never managed to find me I was able to chase opportunities that weren’t open to omegas. I get to live on my own terms because of you.” 

They smiled at each other and stayed locked in each other’s arm until John shifted and winced. “I need to get out of these clothes, are you okay with that?” He began to strip as soon as Sherlock nodded yes. John felt a little awkward because since he was an alpha, the sheer amount of cum in his clothes bottoms meant it made a sound that sounded very much like a wet towel, but at least it meant he no longer risked putting a giant puddle of come on the bed.

And Sherlock did the same; he felt a little bit awkward at the puddle that had developed underneath him, he slyly crawled over to John's side of the bed in an attempt to avoid sleeping on the puddle. They both took in each other’s bodies when Sherlock’s eyes rested on John’s injured shoulder. “Um that is too thick and jagged for a bullet.” 

John laughed, “I think you can stand to deduce me again.” 

“Oh right you ended your time in the army and ended up at the UK Space Agency. And who would shoot an astronaut, so there must’ve been some kind of accident,” replied Sherlock as he crawled across the bed to take a closer look at it. “Were you impaled on a pole of some sort? But how would that even happen.”

John laughed, “oh a pompous billionaire wanted a photo op as we got onto his new rocket, but the scaffolding wasn’t meant for that much people, so it snapped most people managed to crawl back on to the tower but me and my companion for the launch fell off the end attached to the rocket. I got pinned by the scaffolding. And my companion was holding on for dear life, I managed to toss her back up instead of dropping her but the sharp pole that got me pinned ended up piercing through my shoulder. My companion eventually managed to hold me enough to make sure I wasn’t dangling from the wound, but it took forever for a rescue to come and retrieve us. I almost bled to death so I don’t know exactly how they retrieved me.”

Sherlock stared at John, with his mouth hanging open, “I wasn’t expecting that to be the reason behind the wound.” He gently started stroking the scar tissue. He found their combined scents to be absolutely lovely, it made him feel a high he had never done before. “I like our combined scent.”

John laughed, “yup we smell like outer space, one could say we are out of this world.”

“Well you're definitely in my head, that’s quite an achievement,” sighed Sherlock. They fell into the bed together, and John held onto Sherlock, tomorrow was another day and they certainly were going to have many more after that.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... this plot bunny was relentless but it is probably only going to be a one shot. 
> 
> Kudos and comments make me happy.


End file.
